Charter Communications said it has pacted with KTLA5-Los Angeles to air six of the final regular-season Los Angeles Dodgers games – including Vin Scully Appreciation Day on September 23, celebrating the Hall of Fame broadcaster who is wrapping his 66th and final season.
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The station will also air live the pre-game tributes at Vin Scully Appreciation Day on September 23, the first game of the Rockies series.
Should the Dodgers make the playoffs, the team expects to make arrangements for Scully to call the games on KLAC-AM (570) radio while they will be televised by a national carrier (ESPN, Fox or TBS).
“In Los Angeles, there’s no greater sports franchise than the Los Angeles Dodgers, and in the history of baseball, there’s been no greater voice than the incomparable Vin Scully”, Don Corsini, KTLA5’s president and general manager said in a statement.
KTLA’s broadcasts also include the final regular season series of the year against the rival San Francisco Giants, which will take place September 30, October 1 and October 2 at AT&T Park.
And Southern California News Group media columnist Tom Hoffarth also reports that Channel 5 may be attempting to position itself as a long-term partner with the Dodgers and with Spectrum, as the merged Time Warner Cable/Charter company will now be known.
The first of the six games to be broadcast on KTLA will be September 23 against the Colorado Rockies, which is also “Vin Scully Appreciation Day” at Dodger Stadium.
Charter customers have 24/7 access to SportsNet LA, the regional sports network with TV rights to the Dodgers.
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This is different from past years when a free TV station would air Dodgers games in the final days of a pennant race. The team did not allow for any over-the-air games in 2015 in Southern California. What’s also notable is that Scully, who had mostly retired from doing road games, will be at AT&T Park as the Dodgers take on the Giants. The Dodgers started on then-Fox Sports 2 in 1997.
